


the four kingdoms

by lvl5xiaojun



Category: ATEEZ (Band), Dreamcatcher (Korea Band), Stray Kids (Band), The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Other, also game of thrones ig!, mama inspired duh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:09:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27973517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lvl5xiaojun/pseuds/lvl5xiaojun
Summary: “you can smell the wine and shisha. disgusting.”.“you should try it, juyeon. it might make you relax a little. maybe get you the bride your father is desperate for you to get.”
Kudos: 2





	the four kingdoms

**Author's Note:**

> honestly, not sure if i'll continue this, but I was inspired by that One MAMA performance and kinda rolled with it xo. had to include dreamcatcher too because royalty concept suits them. friendly reminder, English is not my first language n I currently do not have a beta reader <3 should get one soon

“ _ queen sua _ .”

the woman lifted her head from where she’d drifted off in the bathtub, eyes hazy with the coverings of surrounding black and blue silks. sua knew exactly what it was about. aestiterra was a bountiful place, with highgarden sitting firmly at the back watching over the four other kingdoms -- but once a year, they believed having a meal and trying to act like friends was better for them. she had never thought that. more often or not, being the only woman who lead a kingdom meant that they looked down her. especially king hongjoong and prince juyeon. the only one who had some kind of respect for her was king hyunjin. they were neighbors after all “yunho, towel please and call jeongin and changmin for me.”she watched rather intently as the taller boy brought her one of the finest towels, and left.

the dinner was today. she knew food was prepared -- the best pigeon pies laid waiting as she walked into the bathing room earlier. soft towel wrapped almost perfectly around the woman’s small body, rubbing lithe skin to dry it off, sua stood when her three slaves (although, she never really called them that. they moved freely around highgarden with their own lives) entered the room. her head turned towards them, friendly smile met with even warmer ones. yunho had been the only one of them not gifted. sua had wanted the title of a fearful queen, and the idea of kidnap of a brother of the king had settled fear in people’s systems. although, it wasn’t exactly that. “today is the day.” sua noted how eyes were on the floor, almost shameful in the way they wanted to look at her, but lack of clothing meant it couldn’t happen. the towel dropped, a light laugh leaving her lips “look at me. you have all bathed me before. do not be ashamed to look at me.”

each boy raised their head with rose-tinted cheeks before the woman continued -- motioning to her dress to be passed to her “you understand that your muzzles must go back on today. we have an image to keep. yubin has let the other slaves from the neo tribe know about theirs too. they will all come back off later. do you all remember the plan?” after her question, a chorus of yes was loud in the room, her hands rubbed together as the dress was placed in front of her. sua stepped in and allowed the taller of the three to tie the back and turned back towards them

“today --- the kingdom changes for the better. i can promise you this.”

**\-----**

king’s rock was quiet, hongjoong thought to himself as the kingsguard made moves to travel. it was barely past the hour of rising when they’d decided to begin to move. the carriage he’d been sat in for a while had stopped outside of highgarden. his younger companions excited to see the sights and sounds of the high walled city. he can hear wooyoung chatting  _ “i hear those in highgarden live freely. a very sexually empowered city. we should go have some fun, san.” _ he didn’t pick up on the response, too distracted by a younger woman now standing outside of his window

“your highness. the queen has sent me out to make sure you have not brought weapons with you. may i?” now, why did they need to know what he was bringing? hongjoong quickly raised a brow, his fingers resting on the side of the carriage before he laughed

_ what is she planning? _ _  
_ _ why does she want us weaponless? _ __  
_ what about the others? _ _  
_ __ pathetic.

“what’s your name?”

“yubin, sir. i am the queens second. now, your weapons.”

“why do you need them?” he can tell that the relentless questions are bothering her, but the defiance in the way he held himself stopped at the sight of a tall figure beside her.  **yunho.** oh, what had they done to him? his clothes, dirtied with mud and grass stains and a muzzle dug into his face, the furious red marks where the metal dug into his skin obvious. he wanted to speak up, to tell her to get the muzzle off, but instead -- “we brought nothing. it is dinner, is it not? why would we need to bring a weapon?”

“it is the highgarden way. you may continue. yunho, follow.” and she was gone. the cart slowly began to move into the high walls of highgarden. hongjoong had to admit. the place was beautiful. there was moss that climbed up the walls, beautiful colorful gardens, the houses of the people who lived here all seemed to be in pristine condition. the fields of crops that kept the rest of aestiterra fed seemed never-ending. a far cry from his own home town. as they came to a stop, shock hit hongjoong hard when they left the vehicle. women -- all dressed the same, made their way over. the one called yubin stood close behind.

“this is siyeon, handong, gahyeon, yoohyeon and jiu. they will be escorting you around today. hongjoong, please -- follow me. queen sua is waiting.”

and he did. hongjoong followed after the woman with a strange weariness in his steps. something seemed oddly wrong about this place, but he couldn’t really put his finger on it. the ever winding corridors of the castle seemed sickening in the way that they twisted, and before he knew it -- he was in front of the queen of all of this. “ah, king hongjoong. you are the first here, please. i was just getting water. do come in.”

**\-----**

hongjoong had picked up on several things. the silks hanging from what he believed to be her bedroom were beautiful, she liked books and small trinkets were favoured. he rested near a table where the woman sat, an uneasy smile on his face “what is the muzzle about?” he motioned to yunho, who had quietly walked in and placed a small tray of food beside them. sua couldn’t help but bite back a soft laugh.  _ it sounds like a fairy fluttering it’s wings,  _ he thought to himself

“it is precautionary. dearest yunho does have a mouth on him when we have guests.”

“he’d be much better off back home.” there’s a grunt from the taller male, hidden underneath the twisted metal. hongjoong can’t make out what’s been said. instead, resorting to picking at the bread that had been handed to them 

“ah, but he’s not chosen to leave~” the woman in front of him spoke with what sounded like malice in her voice “he is not a hostage here. he is my favorite worker. he is welcome to leave when he wishes, but talking about your brother is not why i asked you here today. it is for dinner, yes?”

“yes, dinner.”

_**\---** _

hyunjin had known they’d arrive later than the rest. it was nightfall when their carriage pulled into the large gates of highgarden. no-one had asked about them. in fact, the man who guarded the gate simply smiled and let them in. his father had always told him growing up “ _ when you become king, having friends is important. _ ” and much to the annoyance of everyone else, he’d managed to find friends in someone that everyone else seemed to hate. as he stepped out, hyunjin noticed the taller frame of juyeon, the prince from the neighboring lion’s den wasn’t an unusual sight at things like this. his father more often or not sent him to things like this for an intimidation factor. juyeon was… huge, compared to himself. allowing his guards to step out of the vehicle after him, hyunjin smiled in the direction of his company

“you can smell the wine and shisha.  _ disgusting _ .”.

“you should try it, juyeon. it might make you relax a little. maybe get you the bride your father is desperate for you to get.” hyunjin noticed the way that the other boys fist clenched, but their soon to be fight was disrupted “sua -- should you not be getting ready?”

“i wanted to meet you two in person to welcome you. is that bad? hongjoong is already in with his boys --- feel free to go get settled and explore.” hyunjin watched as juyeon made his way towards the castle, guards swarming behind him, before turning back to the female beside him “the plan is ready for tonight. your people must settle away by 11pm.”

“of course, my queen.”

**\----**

hours later, the meal had begun.

now, it was a true highgarden custom that meals were bountiful, especially when it came to visitors. no matter who it was, they were all treated like kings. the large piles of plates on the tables seemed high and never-ending. endless stuffed pigs, plates of bread and plates of vegetables that never seemed to stop. it was the highgarden way. she watched as hyunjin urged his own people to bed -- citing that they had were to be up early to watch the highgarden warriors fight, but sua watched as hyunjin sat back down, responding to juyeon with a quick “i do not fight, i don’t need to watch them”. but the woman clinked her glass, the curve of a smile appearing on her face. attention. all attention was on her, just how she wanted it.

“i trust the food is good. you all seem to be completely ravished and enjoying it. that is quality highgarden food for you. anyway, welcome to my humble abode for the yearly meal! it is not as fancy as the year before and i do apologize, but sometimes we do not all go to the limits the way prince juyeons father does.” from the aforementioned male's table comes hoots and hollers of happiness. they always did go over the top for gatherings. she supposed it came with being one of the richer families in aestiterra “but the meal was not the only reason i brought you here tonight.” the music that gently played behind all of them slowed to a stop. the dull hum of the crowd following soon after. sua watched as each of the slaves stood behind the tables that they belonged to, and began to talk again.

“now --- i know you all wish for my land. so here is a challenge for you. you will be here for a week, yes?” there's a quiet chorus of yes’ and confusion that spread around the men below her “we’re going to play the game of thrones. you will find out about each other, and if you kill each other -- then go ahead, but whoever is still standing at the end of this, i will give you a large part of my land to use as you wish..” the dull hum of voices get louder. yells of how they’re not bowing to her, how they could just kill her now and things wouldn’t change.

and on instinct, does the scream of someone fill the air. all attention is turned to the table it had come from. yunho, blade in hand, had pushed it as far as he could into the back of the one called san. it hurt, she could sense it and the shock that filled the air said enough for sua. “now, if we wish to get rowdy over this -- then let this be your warning. i am not joking. you want to act like animals when we are together, then consider this a hunt. now, enjoy your food. “ `sua was not a queen to be messed with. there had been stories about a manipulative woman hiding behind the sickly sweet smile that was on her face , but sua had never allowed that image to drop until now.

she can hear voices asking her taller companion what he’s doing as he dragged the now lifeless body towards the back of the banquet hall, but no answers came. “oh! and while i’m here --- you stand up against me this week, another one of your people will fall. do we understand boys?” the response is more shock, most of the guards turned back towards their food -- either acting like things hadn’t happened or --- allowing their silence to say enough

**\---**

“yunho.” it was yubin’s voice that filled the taller boy's ears as the body that was now over his shoulders, dropped limply into the soon to be firepit. her hands are soft, he thought -- as she unclipped the muzzle from his face with a soft grunt. the ability to talk all of a sudden always seemed to leave him when that thing had been put on him. his hands rubbed over the red marks on his face, before huffing

“what?”

“was everything okay with that? he…” it seemed like she was trying to avoid mentioning the word. brother. san was someone that he was told was a brother. surely, he had to be upset over what had happened -- but there was nothing on his face that said that. yunho pulled at the pile his former friend was now on before shrugging

“he was not family. none of them are family.” he watched, as the fire began to rage after lighting it “they aren’t even a royal family. hongjoong became king after killing the mad one that used to live there. every one of us was taken because he didn’t want to be alone. that’s the pirates way. so -- tell me, yubin. why should i care about people who changed my life?”

the silence that filled the air was almost deafening. yunho turned towards the girl with a smile “like our queen said --- tonight will change things.”


End file.
